NFL Draft, A Ghost on the Loose, ‘Them’ Resets to the 1990s, ‘Dead Boy Detectives’

Airing over three nights, the top prospects for the next NFL season will be chosen amid extensive analysis, with seven-time college football national championship winning coach Nick Saban joining Kirk Herbstreit and 1992 NFL draftee Desmond Howard for ABC’s coverage in Detroit. ABC’s show focuses on the “up close and personal” aspects of each player’s journey while ESPN’s coverage leans into the granular details of the player’s attributes and the individual school’s needs. ABC’s broadcasts, continuing Friday and Saturday, are hosted by College Game Day’s Field Yates, with draft analyst Field Yates offering insights. The Chicago Bears has the No. 1 pick (via a trade with the Carolina Panthers) and is expected to select USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

Some ghost powers make more sense than others. Take scoutmaster Pete’s (Richie Moriarty) newly found gift: the ability to leave the “ghost boundary” and wander the world beyond, which matches his “living” profession as a travel agent. The only problem: Pete’s more of a homebody and likes it just fine where he is. His fellow spirits urge Pete to start seeing the world by joining Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) on a trip to the local mega-mart, because what could go wrong? (Bonus: If you’ve been wondering where Pete’s recently departed widow Carol, played by Caroline Aaron, has been lately, you’ll get some intel on that front.) Elsewhere, Thor (Devan Chandler Long) frets about keeping a secret from the newly returned Flower (Sheila Carrasco) about his activities during her absence.

The racially charged horror anthology returns with its original star, Deborah Ayorinde, in a new role and a new decade for its second season. (Season 1 took place in the 1950s during the Great Migration.) The Scare is set in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, a locale and era made infamous by the Rodney King beating in 1991 and the subsequent 1992 riots. Ayorinde stars as LAPD homicide detective Dawn Reeve, whose latest gruesome case suggests the work of a serial killer, although as one observer declares, “No human is capable of that kind of evil.” Pam Grier, a veteran of the genre, co-stars as her mother, Athena, who you’d think would be fierce enough to help Dawn’s family survive any malevolent threat.

From Neil Gaiman’s Sandman fantasy universe comes a cheeky supernatural mystery series that the ghosts of Ghosts would probably love. Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) are teenage ghosts who go all Hardy Boy as detectives, helping fellow spirits solve paranormal crimes. They get help from funky clairvoyant Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her sidekick Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) when they’re not being chased by the witches of Hell and Death.

Canada TV’s longest-running drama series ever opens its 17^th season on its exclusive U.S. streaming home with a milestone 250^th episode. The action picks up at the Heartland ranch in Alberta, where horse whisperer Amy (Amber Marshall) is surprised when Mallory (Jessica Amlee) returns, very pregnant, with a wild horse in tow. Elsewhere, Lou (Michelle Morgan) faces a familiar opponent in her re-election campaign for mayor.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Young Sheldon (8/7c, CBS): Boy genius Sheldon (Iain Armitage) publishes a paper that puts him on the radar of multiple grad-school recruiters. Just wait till they meet him.
• So Help Me Todd (9/8c, CBS): Enjoy this quirky caper while it lasts. In this week’s escapade, Todd (the charming Skylar Astin) and his mom Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) come to the aid of a man who’s been declared dead—prematurely. Wish that the series could also get a reprieve.
• Elkhorn (9/8c, INSP): The Western series depicts future president and recent widower Theodore Roosevelt’s (Mason Beals) adventures as a rancher in the Dakota Territory. In this episode, a neighboring rancher accuses his workers on the Elkhorn Ranch of rustling cattle.
• Elsbeth (10/9c, CBS): Gina Gershon is this week’s big-name guest star, playing a plastic surgeon suspected by Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) of killing a former protégée who was stealing her clients, including her own wife (Holly James). But Elsbeth might want to watch her back, with police officer Kaya (Carra Patterson) keeping track of her movements as the nosy observer continues snooping into Capt. Wagner’s (Wendell Pierce) business.

ON THE STREAM:

• Star Trek: Discovery (streaming on Paramount+): Having recovered from last week’s disruptive “time bug,” the crew pursues their next clue regarding the Progenitors’ tech to a wormhole, where Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) enter extradimensional space and encounter a shipwrecked Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis). Cue the backstory for the final season’s adversaries.
• Velma (streaming on Max): The animated adult Scooby Doo spinoff finds Velma (Mindy Kaling) tackling a new mystery in Crystal Cove, juggling her sleuthing with her sudden popularity.
• We Were the Lucky Ones (streaming on Hulu): In the penultimate episode of the World War II Holocaust drama, Halina (Joey King) and Adam (Sam Woolf) prepare for violence in Warsaw, while Addy (Logan Lerman) struggles to move on without knowing the fate of his family.
• My Mane Problem (streaming on ALLBLK): Celebrity stylist Dr. Boogie untangles clients’ hair traumas in a new season of the makeover series.
• Diarra from Detroit (streaming on BET+): The mystery series ends with Diarra (Diarra Kilpatrick) gathering all the parties involved with the kidnapping to get some answers and, she hopes, to reunite with Chris (Shannon Wallace).